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CALPE MINIATURES
New Releases-
November ‘07
Prussian Command
(Code PC)
Set 8- Corps command-
The Chief of Staff (Boyen) pushes his map case back and settles it so that it rests on the rear of the saddle. At his age, a day in the saddle with a map case banging against the small of his back is a recipe for a sleepless night. He has done his job and has worked out the fine detail of the movements to follow. Earlier, the corps commander (Bulow,) spotted the movement in the opposing lines. The French brigade (Oudinot) supporting the Saxons (Reynier) on this wing moving to support the embattled French and Italians on the Prussian left. He realised that if the two Prussian brigades on this wing attacked before the French reserve could be brought into action on the other wing, the Saxon corps would be isolated. The battle could be won on the Prussian right while the French were trying to reinforce the left. Behind him, the Chief of Staff can hear his assistant briefing the promising young staff officer they have chosen to deliver and implement the orders. A feldjager will accompany the officer with a copy of the orders. He too waits for the briefing to finish. The chief of staff looks forward at the General and his ADC. He knows the General has gambled but it is a throw of the dice with the odds in his favour.
The above is taken from the final act of the battle of Dennewitz. It was a battle won and lost on gambles and personality clashes. On the French side Ney’s gamble was to move Oudinot from the left to the right wing. Reynier begged Oudinot to leave him with some of his forces in support but Oudinot, seething from his loss of overall command to Ney, refused and followed his orders to the letter. On the Prussian side Bulow saw his chance and gambled on his attack being successful before Oudinot could add his weight to the other wing. Bulow asked for Borstell’s brigade to support the attack. Borstell had a semi-autonomous command role under Bulow. He overcame his annoyance at having been made subordinate to Bulow and did as he was asked. The result was a Prussian victory.
There are five figures and horses (two new ones) in this set. This is just the way the diorama worked out by the time the various protagonists were factored in. They are all supporting cast. The personality figure of your choice will have to be added to complete the set once these are released. I wanted to make the Chief of Staff look more imposing a figure than any common staff officer. I have given him the plumed hat and shoulder straps on his uberrock (which should be grey). His assistant wears more conventional attire with a covered cap and uberrock (grey) but I’ve also given him the shoulder straps as he would have been a fairly senior staff officer in his own right. The junior staff officer is standing, holding his horse and has the more utilitarian garb of an officer exposed directly to battle. He wears the Leibrock (the Prussian equivalent of the Surtout) and the coverd bicorn. The Feldjager in this case is an officer and wears his Uberrock which was green - the same colour as his uniform. The general’s ADC is a straight forward figure in cap and uberrock (both grey).
Musketeers-
Trail-Arms Figures-
This is the classic advancing pose for Prussian infantry. It was used to advance ‘at-the-double’ so that battalions could move about the battlefield at speed. These figures never sell well as gamers are not accustomed to seeing figures in this pose on the table. It is a pity as in reality it was used more frequently in battle than the popular march-attack pose. I have hundreds of ‘battle’ pictures of the Prussian army in my collection now. In all of these there is only one of a musketeer battalion advancing in the march-attack pose, while there are many more of the Prussian infantry advancing at trail-arms.
Note that due to the lower sales I expect from this set I have not supplied ‘special’ packs. Instead I have made one figure each in forage and ‘bareheaded’ which appear as single code numbers. These figures are mostly two part castings with the musket (and right hand) cast separately. The musket needs to be glued to the figure prior to painting. The mounted officer I have included with this set can be used with other sets as well. Its distinguishing feature is that it sits on the more ornate shabraque shown by Knotel in several illustrations. It is made of red cloth with gold edging. The Pistol holders are remarkable as he shows the butt of the pistols protruding from the top of the saddle holsters. I image a senior regimental officer using a shabraque such as this in the field – possibly the colonel of the regiment.
PM18 Long pace, left leg forward bent at the knee, right leg back.
PM18b As above head turned left.
PM19 Legs almost together, bent at the knee.
PM20 Long pace, left leg forward but straight, right leg back.
PM20b As above head turned right.
PM21 Long pace, right leg forward, left leg back both knees bent.
PM22 NCO.
PM23 Standard bearer holding colour on right shoulder.
PM24 Drummer holding strap and sticks with one hand and drum rim with the other.
PM25 Version of PM19 wearing forage cap.
PM26 Version of PM21 bareheaded.
PM27 Enthusiastic figure looking over left shoulder left hand raised as if encouraging others forward.
PM28 Casualty figure falling back.
PM29 Officer, legs almost together, sword down, two part casting.
PM29b As above but wearing officer’s cap.
PM30 Officer taking long pace, sword on shoulder.
PM30b As above wearing cap.
PM31 Mounted officer, sword by his side, looking right.
PM31b As above looking forward and wearing cap.
I was asked to make the following for customer’s use. Having made it, I am not sure why I have not made it before; an oversight for which I apologise. Note also that the rolled flag I released with the landwehr will now be re-coded as P flag 1.
P flag 2 Ornate spear point for flag staff with cravat. Glue on to the end of the brass or steel wire flag pole. Bend the cravat into a convincing shape prior to painting. For use only with regular line regiments (£1 for a pack of two).
Horses-
A number of customers have asked me to make the horses I sculpted for the command packs generally available. I can see no reason for not doing so other than to remind you that these horses were made to fit specific figures. As a result I cannot guarantee the snug fit my cavalry figures generally have on the horses already in the range. Having said that, I have been using some of these ‘general’s’ horses with standard cavalry figures for some time and they work very well as long as you are prepared to file or fill a bit. Skills all of us should have. See the new picture of the Pommeranian landwehr unit on the website.
H21 Walking horse. Front right leg raised high as if stepping over something.
H22 Walking horse. Front left leg raised slightly, head turned to the left.
H23 Trotting horse, long stride, head turned right.
H24 Dynamic horse head pulled in towards body legs straight as if pulled up short.
H25 Standing horse, varient of H19 (grazing horse) but with his head up.
H26 Standing horse with left rear leg raised slightly.
H27 Standing ‘spirited’ horse (sculpted for corps commanders). I wanted this pose to give the impression of a well bred highly strung horse.
Future releases-
Things still look promising for the first set of Saxons before Christmas. It all depends on the usual factors such as the time consuming ‘varients’ (of which there are quite a few for the Saxons) and how the master and production moulds turn out. The next release however will be of the personality figures – Bulow, Yorke, Kleist and Tauenzien (commander of the 4th ‘reserve’ corps, which supported Bulow in his defence of Berlin).Bulow and Yorke were planned for release with these sets but Bulow had an unforeseen (minor) mishap in the master mould and I have had to postpone his appearance. I am also working on the Army command pack but I can’t see these being released until early next year.
Peter